Lodestone Archive
The archive of all the tales and discoveries of House Pyxis are stored in a bizarre and cavernous building in the Paper District which bleeds into the bizarre realm of the Labyrinth. Run by the Lore Wardens, the archive’s organisational system is deliberately confusing, making it almost impossible to find a specific record without their assistance. The archive is closely watched, Wardens willing to deploy extreme force against intruders. This, combined with their constant contention with the dangers of travelling through the Labyrinth on a daily basis, has garnered them the reputation of being amongst the most dangerous librarians in the sector- a badge they wear with ironic pride. Organisation The archive is entirely paper based, meaning that all of the records stored are kept in physical books. These books are stored according the Humerlongeronimous System- an entirely meaningless name created as part of the ongoing pretence held up by the Wardens that the archive is actually maintained according to an intricately detailed and highly complex system which ‘would only go over your head’ if they explained it. Of course, if pressed it becomes quite clear to any savvy person that the system is nowhere near so complex. The Wardens will never admit it, though. They are utterly committed to the joke. The actual Humerlongeronimous System is very simple. Books are divided into ‘Departments’. This depending entirely on who first entered the book into the archive, since it’s ‘their department’. Each Warden organises the books in their department according to their own personal system, none of which are straightforward. All of the Wardens share storage space, however, which means that their systems often intersect and collide to create bizarre exceptions to their own rules which often only apply to a single volume. The end result of the Humerlongeronious system is rooms upon rooms of seemingly chaotic piles of tomes which are entirely incomprehensible to all but the most analytically minded outsider and many of the library’s own wardens. Nevertheless, if somebody is looking for something a Warden will be more than happy to help guide them through the archive, so long as the request is in their department. Contents The archive contains an eclectic mix of documents. Its principal purpose is to maintain a record the stories of House Pyxis. This includes the works and stories of its members- serf and noble -as well as the history of the institution itself. The Wardens do a lot of work procuring even the most seemingly trivial documents, like the minutes from meetings or early drafts of treaties. Most works created by members of Pyxis can be found somewhere in the Archive. At the Moot the Wardens try to procure a list of everything published over the last year, so that they can spend the next year procuring copies for the archive. Topography And Atmosphere The Archive starts at ground level. Visitors are greeted by a large entrance hall- full of books and documents waiting to be sorted -the centre of which is a massive wooden desk. Wardens take shifts manning the desk, but it is almost always manned by the newest and least experienced of the Lore Wardens. An important tool at Granny Pyxis’ disposal when renegotiating the bargains of lore Wardens is the offer to move them off the front desk. From here visitors can make their way through into the rest of the Archive. 22 grand halls and innumerable smaller rooms, chambers and hallways are all stacked high with documents, full to the brim. Rather than ascend into the sky, the floors of the archive descend deeper into the Lodestone. After the sixth level, the Archive spills out into the nigh limitless space of the Labyrinth. Seemingly endless hallways are lined with bookshelves, deep chasms down to its non-euclidean depths are viewed as excellent repositories for yet more documents. The more dangerous areas- home to some of Lodestone’s most adverse physics -are used for the storage of highly sensitive documents. It is even rumoured that the Library can be used by those who understand it to travel all across Lodestone. Certain corridors apparently lead inexplicably out into some of the most sensitive and vital areas of the planetoid, with no way back in. The Library’s deeply nonsensical nature has also been known to send interlopers mad. In some parts, people say that the Labyrinth warps to reflect the Library’s contents, ensnaring the unwary in seductive fictions and horrifying truths. Category:Pyxis Category:Lodestone